U.S. patent application number 12/765887 was filed with the patent office on 2010-10-28 for fpc connector with built-in lock.
This patent application is currently assigned to HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to GUO-JIAN SHEN.
Application Number | 20100273341 12/765887 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42034014 |
Filed Date | 2010-10-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100273341 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SHEN; GUO-JIAN |
October 28, 2010 |
FPC CONNECTOR WITH BUILT-IN LOCK
Abstract
An FPC connector (100) includes an insulative housing (1) which
has a bottom wall (10) and a pair of end walls (12) thereby forming
a mating room (15) with a mating opening (14) located at a front
face thereof, a plurality of terminals (2) disposed within the
housing and having a contacting portion (210) extending into the
mating room and at least one positioning portion (18) substantially
located at a corner of the mating opening (14) and partially
located upon the bottom wall (10) with a cantilever-shaped
configuration.
Inventors: |
SHEN; GUO-JIAN; (Kunshan,
CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WEI TE CHUNG;FOXCONN INTERNATIONAL, INC.
1650 MEMOREX DRIVE
SANTA CLARA
CA
95050
US
|
Assignee: |
HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO.,
LTD.
Tu-Cheng
TW
|
Family ID: |
42034014 |
Appl. No.: |
12/765887 |
Filed: |
April 23, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/329 ;
439/499 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R 12/79 20130101;
H01R 12/775 20130101; H01R 23/661 20130101; H01R 12/721
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
439/329 ;
439/499 |
International
Class: |
H01R 13/62 20060101
H01R013/62; H01R 12/24 20060101 H01R012/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 23, 2009 |
CN |
200920302501.X |
Claims
1. An FPC connector, comprising: an insulative housing comprising a
bottom wall and a pair of end walls thereby forming a mating room
with a mating opening located at a front face thereof; a plurality
of terminals disposed within the housing and comprising a
contacting portion extending into the mating room; and at least one
positioning portion substantially located at a corner of the mating
opening and partially located upon the bottom wall with a
cantilever-shaped configuration.
2. The FPC connector as described in claim 1, wherein the
insulative housing comprises a positioning recess formed between
the positioning portion and the bottom wall and opened to the
mating room.
3. The FPC connector as described in claim 2, wherein the
positioning portion comprises a first positioning section
protruding from the insulative housing and a second positioning
section protruding from the bottom wall or the end wall and
integrally connecting with a front side of the first positioning
section.
4. The FPC connector as described in claim 3, wherein the first
positioning section and the second positioning section are both
located at the corner formed by the bottom wall and the end
wall.
5. The FPC connector as described in claim 4, wherein the first
positioning section and the second positioning section form an
L-shaped configuration.
6. The FPC connector as described in claim 3, wherein the bottom
wall comprises a plurality of terminal slots for receiving a lower
arm of the terminal therein.
7. The FPC connector as described in claim 6, wherein the terminal
comprises an upper arm opposite to the lower arm and moveably
disposed in the top wall of the insulative housing.
8. The FPC connector as described in claim 7, wherein the upper arm
and the lower arm of the terminal both defines a contacting portion
protruding into the mating room.
9. An FPC connector, comprising: an insulative housing defining a
receiving space with an opening located at a front face thereof,
the receiving space having a floor flushed to the opening having a
width; a plurality of contact terminals disposed within the housing
and having a contact engaging portion extending the receiving
space; and anti-disengagement arrangement extending above the floor
from a position adjacent to the opening and narrowing the
opening.
10. The FPC connector as recited in claim 9, wherein the receiving
space includes a ceiling with upper passageways defined therein and
the contact engaging portions are moveably disposed therein.
11. The FPC connector as recited in claim 10, wherein the receiving
space includes a floor defining with a plurality of lower
passageways corresponding to the upper passageways and with contact
retaining portion disposed therein.
12. The FPC connector as recited in claim 11, wherein the
anti-disengagement arrangement includes a projection extending
substantially parallel to the floor of the receiving space.
13. An FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) connector for mating with an
FPC, comprising: an insulative housing having a plurality of side
walls commonly defining therein a receiving cavity communicating
with an exterior through a front opening formed in front face of
the housing, said front opening defining an elongated shape for
allowing extension of the FPC, one of said side wall defining a
cutout around the front face of the housing for allowing movement
of said FPC during mating; a plurality of contacts disposed in the
housing with contacting section extending into the receiving
cavity; at least one positioning section extending inwardly into
the receiving cavity from the front face of the housing adjacent to
one elongated end of said elongated shape for abutting a step
structure formed on the side edge of the FPC so as to hold the FPC
in position with withdrawal from the receiving cavity.
14. The FPC connector as claimed in claim 13, wherein said
positioning section restricts movement of the FPC in both a
front-to-back direction and a vertical direction.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to an FPC connector, and more
particularly, to an FPC connector with a built-in lock in which an
inserted FPC can be securely locked therein and readily disengaged
therefrom when needed.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] FPC is a medium used for data transmission between computers
and the peripherals connected thereto. FPC typically has a
plurality of conductors for transmitting signal. U.S. Pat. No.
6,162,083 issued to Masashi Seto on Dec. 19, 2000, discloses a
conventional electrical connector mounted on a Printed Circuit
Board (PCB) for engaging with an FPC. The electrical connector
includes an insulative housing, a plurality of conductive terminals
retained in the insulative housing across the connector along a
width directrion, and an actuator moveably driven between an opened
position and a closed position relative to the housing. The
insulative housing has a mating space for receiving the FPC therein
and a plurality of grooves in communicating with the mating space.
Each of the terminals includes a contacting arm electrically
connecting with the FPC and a retaining arm corresponding to the
contacting arm, both of which extending towards the mating space
and creating a gap thicker than a thickness of the FPC at between
thereof. By this arrangement, the FPC can be easily inserted
therein without any noticeable resistance. The actuator defines a
driving portion at middle thereof for urging the FPC against the
contacting arm and a pair of bosses detachably connected with the
insulative housing at both ends thereof.
[0005] When the actuator is set at opened position, the driving
portion is away from the mating space and will not exert a biasing
force against the FPC inserted into the mating space. When the
actuator is rotated and set to the closed position, said driving
portion presses against the FPC to engage with the conductive
terminal. The insulative housing has a pair of positioning portions
integrally extending from both ends thereof for preventing the FPC
from being removed away the electrical connector along a mating
direction. The positioning portion has a triangle-shaped across
section in the mating direction for guiding the insertion and
pulling out of the FPC. However the FPC will easily shift upwardly
and then readily being pulled away from the electrical connector
easily if the actuator is set at opened position, because which is
not secured by the positioning portion along a vertical direction
perpendicular to the width direction.
[0006] Therefore, an improved electrical connector is desired to
overcome the disadvantages of the related arts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide an FPC
connector overcoming disadvantage of the FPC being easily and
accidentally pulled away from the connector.
[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an
electrical connector in accordance with a preferred embodiment of
the present invention includes an insulative housing which has a
bottom wall and a pair of end walls thereby forming a mating room
with a mating opening located at a front face thereof, a plurality
of terminals disposed within the housing and having a contacting
portion extending into the mating room and at least one positioning
portion substantially located at a corner of the mating opening and
partially located upon the bottom wall with a cantilever-shaped
configuration.
[0009] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the
invention will become more apparent from the following detailed
description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector
engaging with an FPC in accordance with the preferred embodiment of
the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the FPC connector
disengaging with the FPC of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the FPC connector
of FIG. 2 but not showing the FPC;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a cross-section view of the FPC connector taken
along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 with a fictitious inserted FPC;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a cross-section view of the FPC connector taken
along line 5-5 of FIG. 1;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a cross-section view of the FPC connector taken
along line 6-6 of FIG. 1; and
[0016] FIG. 7 is a cross-section view of the FPC connector taken
along line 7-7 of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] Reference will now be made to the drawing figures to
describe the preferred embodiment of the present invention in
detail.
[0018] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electrical connector 100 for
electrically connecting with a flexible printed circuit board (FPC)
4 includes an insulative housing 1, a plurality of terminals 2
retained in the insulative housing across the electrical connector
along a width direction, a pair of metal ears 3 each attached to
both ends of the insulative housing.
[0019] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the insulative housing 3 has a
bottom wall 10, a top wall 11 and a pair of end walls 12 integrally
joining said two side walls, thereby forming a mating room 15 with
a mating opening 14 located at a front face 17 thereof for
receiving the FPC 4 therein. The mating room 15 has a floor formed
by the bottom wall 14 and flushed to the mating opening 14 having a
width. The insulative housing 3 has a plurality of upper terminal
slots 13a and lower terminal slots 13b separately disposed in the
top wall 11 and the bottom wall 10. The end wall 12 has a slot 16
for receiving the metal ear 3.
[0020] Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the terminals 2 are forwardly
and respectively inserted into the insulative housing from a rear
side of insulative housing 1 opposite to the mating opening 14.
Each of the terminals 2 is defined with a body portion 20, an upper
arm 21 and a lower arm 22 both extending forwardly from the body
portion 20 into the mating room 15. The terminal 2 also forms a
soldered portion 202 extending outwardly from the body portion 20
for being soldered onto a Printed Circuit Board (PCB).
[0021] The upper arm 21 is attached into the upper terminal slot
13a of the top wall 11 and has a first contacting portion 210 at a
front end thereof which is closed to the mating opening 14 and
protruding into the mating room 15. The first contacting portion
210 is moveably disposed in the terminal slot 13a. The lower arm 22
is received in the lower terminal slot 13b and includes a second
contacting portion 220 at a front end thereof. The second
contacting portion 220 is opposite to the first contacting portion
210 thereby creating a gap between the first contacting portions
210 and the second contacting portions 220 for receiving the FPC 4.
Because said gap is configured thinner than a thickness of the FPC
4, such that the inserted FPC 4 can be readily inserted into the
mating room 15 in a LIF manner and then sandwiched between of said
two contacting portions 210, 220. The FPC 4 has a plurality of
conductors 40a, 40b arranged at both sides thereof, separately and
electrically connecting with the contacting portions 210, 220 of
the terminal 2 for transmitting signal.
[0022] Referring to FIGS. 3 to 7, at least one positioning portion
18 separately extending above the bottom wall 10 from a position
adjacent to the mating opening 14 and narrowing the mating opening
14 for an-disengagement of the inserted FPC 4. The positioning
portion 18 is substantially disposed at a corner of the mating
opening 14 and partially located upon the bottom wall 10 with a
cantilever-shaped configuration. Furthermore, the positioning
portion 18 is located at a corner of the bottom wall 10 and the end
wall 12. The positioning portion 18 includes a first positioning
section 181 extending substantially parallel to the bottom wall 10
and protruding from an inner side of the end wall 12 towards the
mating room 15, and a second positioning section 183 integrally
connecting with a front side of the first positioning section 181
and extending from the bottom wall 10 or the end wall 12. So the
positioning portion 18 forms an L-shaped configuration (as best
seen from FIGS. 4 and 6) and defines a positioning recess 182
opened to the mating room 15.
[0023] The FPC 4 is reclined on the positioning portions 18,
obliquely inserted into the mating room 15 and then at least
partially received in positioning recess 182. The FPC 4 has a
shoulder portion 41 engaging with an inner side of the second
positioning section 183, and as a result, its forward movement can
be properly limited (as best seen from FIGS. 6 and 7). The first
positioning section 181 is located upon of the FPC 4 for preventing
the FPC 4 from being incidentally pulled away upwardly from the
electrical connector. So the FPC 4 is steadily positioned by the
L-shaped positioning portions 18 ensuring an electrical connection
with the terminals 2 stably.
[0024] The metal ear 3 includes a vertical body portion 30 retained
in the slot 16, a first retaining portion 31 and a second retaining
portion 32 both extending from both ends of the body portion 30 and
retained in the end wall 12 and a soldered portion 33 extending
outwards from a bottom edge of the body portion 30 for soldered
onto a PCB (not shown).
[0025] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been
set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of
the structure and function of the invention, the dislosure is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the
board general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
* * * * *